


Baby, I Know Places We Won't Be Found

by thetasteofhercherrycarmex



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Based on a Taylor Swift Song, Behavioral Analysis Unit (Criminal Minds), Established Relationship, F/M, Fraternization, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Nightmares, Nothing major though, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Secret Relationship, Song: I Know Places (Taylor Swift), Spencer Reid Needs a Hug, brief mentions of violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-17 16:07:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29103030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thetasteofhercherrycarmex/pseuds/thetasteofhercherrycarmex
Summary: Just grab my hand and don't ever drop it, my love. They are the hunters, we are the foxes.And we run.Based off the Taylor Swift song I Know Places
Relationships: Spencer Reid/Original Female Character(s), Spencer Reid/Reader
Kudos: 19





	Baby, I Know Places We Won't Be Found

**Author's Note:**

> Spencer has nightmares, and Reader knows how to comfort them all too well. 
> 
> Warning as well! Spoilers for Season 5 episode 9, "100" and Season 7 episodes 23 and 24, "Hit" and "Run". Also just some general later season references, but no major explicit spoilers.

Spencer didn’t dream often, but when he did, you knew. His breathing deepened, his eyes moved under their lids-- Spencer would have a name for that, but you didn’t know it-- and his eyebrows knitted together in the center of his face. 

And you knew when Spencer was having a nightmare. He cried out in his sleep, calling for something, anything. His hands would search for you, looking to hold you tightly. As if he could protect you from whatever was plaguing his sleep. 

He didn’t like to talk about his nightmares. You had heard from Derek (through the grapevine, of course, Spence would never tell you directly) that he had been having nightmares for years, since before you had joined the team. You all did, Derek, Emily, Hotch, and JJ included. It was one of the side effects of having your job. 

But Spencer worried too much. It was one of the reasons he had his nightmares, he worried too much. 

You both had plenty to worry about, so you couldn’t really blame him. After all, being FBI agents was one thing, but being FBI agents that regularly pissed off serial killers was another. And, of course, the whole “no fraternization” thing. There was that to be worried about, too. 

No one knew about your relationship yet. You suspected that Hotch had his suspicions, he was too good of a profiler, but he hadn’t addressed the subject yet. It would come out on its own time, and that was okay with you. 

But it worried Spencer. You could see every day, in the way he looked at you while you sat across the bullpen, in the way he sat as far away from you as he could on the jet when flying to a case. You knew he was scared. He was scared of so many things anymore, you couldn’t keep track. 

You knew how things went sour when you were in the BAU. You had heard the stories of Hotch and Haley, you knew what had very nearly happened to Will and JJ. You knew of the agents who succumbed to their own champagne problems, you knew the ones whose stories ended in you having to buy a new black dress for their funeral. 

For all of the nights the BAU spent celebrating, there were two more nights spent quietly, somber and silently praying. You knew that your relationship was always going to worry Spencer, and that he would always have the fear gnawing at the back of his mind that he was going to come home one day and find you gone. Kidnapped, abducted, held hostage. Or the worse things. 

He was terrified that one day, you would become a case. 

Spencer was having a nightmare tonight. You knew the sound of his voice even in your sleep, like the call of a horn to soldiers on a battlefield. 

“No,” Spencer muttered as he slept. “No, no, don’t!” He called out, his voice louder that time. 

Your eyes fluttered open, his voice startling you awake. You looked around the dark room (almost dark, except for the one nightlight you kept in the corner. What could you say? You hated the dark), trying to find the source of whatever had awoken you. Your eyes found Spencer’s sleeping form, and you knew it instantly. 

His face, scrunched up like it did when he was deep in thought when you were on a case. And his chest, rising and falling as if the moon had decided to speed-run the tides. 

“No, no, please!” Spencer called out as you watched him. “Don’t, I’ll do anything.” He continued. His hands searched frantically, trying to find your body in the sheets between you. “Please, please, don’t hurt her. Don’t hurt her.” His voice echoed. 

You had to do something. You weren’t any sort of psychiatrist or therapist or anything, but you knew you had to wake him up.

“Spence, Spence.” You said, and reached out to touch his face gently. “Spence, wake up.” You said, your voice as gentle as you could make it while speaking at a volume loud enough to wake him. 

Spencer’s eyes slowly drifted open, and you weren’t surprised to see the tears that had fallen from them while he was sleeping. 

“Y/n.” Spencer said, more like stated, like he was surprised to see you there. “Y/n.” He repeated quickly. He held out his hand and touched your face, like he was trying to confirm that you were really there. Solid and genuine. 

“I’m right here.” You murmured, and reached out to touch Spencer. He leaned into the touch, before looking back to you. And oh, he looked at you like a drunk in a bar, like how a thief watched over his priceless jewels. 

“Did you have a nightmare?” You asked. Spencer nodded, chewing on his lower lip. “Oh, my love.” You said, the proof of what you already knew making your heart sting for Spencer. 

Reaching up to touch Spencer’s hand on your face, you thought of ways to comfort him. He looked so sad in the dim light of your bedroom, his still wet cheeks reflecting the little light there was in the room. Something about the way his eyes dripped melancholy words made your stomach twist. It hurt to see him like that, scared and vulnerable. 

You sat up, and moving gently, climbed into Spencer’s lap. He looked surprised at your movement, his eyes widening. 

The first thing you did was wrap your arms around Spencer, and hug him. Once again, he seemed surprised at first, but then he leaned into it, wrapping his arms around your own and holding on tightly. The two of you stayed that way for a moment, a beat, before he pulled away. 

“Spencer,” You said. He looked up to you with those big soft eyes of yours, and you could have melted. Any girl wished to be looked at that way, with admiration and love. But the circumstances made your stomach twist, guilt clawing at your throat. This was about him, not your own ideals and thoughts. Spencer, the love of your life. 

“I dreamed they were hurting you,” Spencer choked out, his eyes beginning to shed tears once more. You looked up, his voice dragging you up out of your thoughts. “They-- they took you and they hurt you.” Spencer continued. His voice caught in his throat when he spoke. And good lord, it hurt. 

“Spencer, it’s okay. I’m here. I’m safe.” You told him. You reached up to touch his cheeks, and wiped away some of the tears that had some to rest there. “No one is hurting me.” You added, and Spencer shook his head. 

“But you, us-- so much could go wrong. There could be an unsub, or an accident, or someone could find out.” He said. You shook your own head, but he kept going. “It’s like a fragile, little flame. It could burn out at any time.” Spencer worried, tears falling from his eyes freely once more. 

“I won’t let it,” You whispered, trying to hold it together for yourself, too. “Because I know places we won’t be found.” You continued, studying the way the words made Spencer seem to relax more in your arms. “Baby, I know places we won’t be found. They’ll be chasing their own tails trying to track us down, but they won’t find us. We’ll be safe.” You assured Spencer. His eyes softened. You knew that in his head, he was trying to convince himself that these things were true. 

“They are the hunters, and we are the foxes.” You said, and your mind wandered to all of the unsubs who had chased your team. The ones that slipped through your fingers, or tried to outsmart you. “But we run.” You finished. Spencer smiled a little bit, finally, and you knew you were getting somewhere. 

“Just grab my hand, and don’t ever drop it, my love.” You whispered, reaching up to gently touch Spencer’s bed head curls. Spencer took your other hand and held it tightly, obeying the command you had given him. 

“They are the hunters, and we are the foxes.” Spencer answered, his voice soft and hoarse from the tears he had shed. You held both sides of his face, one of his own hands still loyally holding on to your own. 

“ _ And we run _ .” You finished, saying it with the kind of emphasis that would make Spencer remember it even if he didn’t have that eididic memory. 

“And we run.” Spencer echoed.

And then he kissed you, gently, like it was his first time doing so. His lips were just more than a ghost over your own, gentle and soft. Careful, delicate. There was nothing else there, no longing, no desire. Nothing that would lead to passionate make-outs or you taking off your sleep shirt, just a kiss. Like a reminder that you were real. Tangible, and here. 

“Rest, my love.” You whispered once he pulled away. “We have a big day tomorrow.” You added. 

“What are we doing tomorrow?” Spencer asked. He rubbed his eyes. With all of that perfect memory stored up in his head, he still tended to forget some things. 

“It’s Friday night, that means it's Girl’s Night with Garcia and Emily.” You answered, and Spencer groaned. Despite being a man, he was an honorary invitee to Girl’s Night. It was actually how the two of you had become closer, through the both of your antisocial tendencies and the fact that neither of you ever drank nearly as much as Garcia or Emily did. Thankfully, neither of the girls were sober enough to remember anything that happened between you and Spencer those nights, so you were safe. 

“Girl’s Night,” Spencer muttered, before softly kissing you again. He pulled away, and then stopped, your faces close enough that it wouldn’t take more than a slight movement, and your lips would be touching once more. You watched Spencer’s eyes as they studied your face, moving up and down like he wanted to sculpt you from memory time and time again. 

“I love you.” Spencer whispered, breaking the silence. You smiled gently, and kissed Spencer quickly on the lips. 

“I love you too, Spence.” You said. He smiled back, and laid down. 

You laid down next to him, listening to the way his breathing slowed. 

It wasn’t the first time Spencer had nightmares, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. But whatever came at him, the two of you would fight together. 

Spencer’s hand held your own, determined not to let go. 

They could take their shots, but you were bulletproof. 

They were the hunters, and you were the foxes. 

And you knew places you wouldn’t be found. 

**Author's Note:**

> The one where I once again get sad and write a Criminal Minds fic based off of a Taylor Swift song instead of working on my main wip right now. We'll call it intimacy practice, how about that. However, this was my first time writing nightmares (or anything angsty, I'll be honest), so there's that. This one was short and sweet, but I hope you still liked it. 
> 
> Props to those who caught the references to other Tay songs. 
> 
> And as always, thanks for reading! Feel free to add suggestions of other words you'd like to see in the comments.


End file.
